incidents like this. we're in electrical tower was left utterly crumpled by the storm. it could take days or weeks even for power to be fully restored. it's obviously ominous in terrible for a number. reasons -- there's also the reality of the coronavirus which has been ravaging louisiana. one icu doctors and nurses were forced to manually pump air into patients lungs, after a generator failure caused ventilators to shut down. powering reminder that the virus does not pause for natural distractions. medical professionals are left balancing a once in a century pandemic on top of a changing climate. which meets extreme weather events more common in more dangerous. this reporter is a pulitzer prize-winning journalist, in a masterful account called five days of memorial. which is about the aftermath of hurricane katrina in one new orleans hospital. and she joins me now.